Mount Tamalpais College

MTC News

2018 by the Numbers

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2018 was our twenty-second year of offering the College Program at San Quentin. We’re excited to share the following data points from last year.

Over the course of 2018:

  • 407 students completed at least one course in the College Program
  • 282 students enrolled in credit courses
  • 296 students enrolled in college prep courses
  • 2.38 courses were taken by students on average
  • 35% of students enrolled in < 4 units
  • 27% of students enrolled in 4 to 8 units
  • 38% of students enrolled in > 8 units
  • 80% of students completed courses
  • 9 students graduated
  • 29 courses were offered
    • 6 college prep courses
    • 23 credit courses
  • 362 volunteers participated
  • 26,234 hours were donated by volunteers

Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.

Introducing Our New College Preparatory English Program Coordinator: Deirdre Judge

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We are thrilled to welcome Deirdre Judge as the new College Preparatory English Program Coordinator. Deirdre’s job duties will include: placement and management of English College Prep volunteers, student assessments, development of new student orientation and other student resources, and syllabus and curriculum development. The College Prep Program serves over 225 students annually, and on average, students spend two years in the program before advancing to the credit level courses.

Deirdre has dedicated their career to facilitation and curriculum design according to critical pedagogy. They believe in education as a strategy for freedom. Prior to coming to the Prison University Project, their experiences included teaching a feminist reading group in a women’s state prison, training educators, and tutoring high school and college writing. They hold an MA in Educational Studies from Tufts University. Deirdre loves speculative fiction and is almost always in the mood for homemade chocolate chip cookies.

Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.

Remembering Jane E. Kahn

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We are sad to announce the passing of Jane E. Kahn, a dear friend and supporter of the Prison University Project. Jane dedicated decades of her life to fiercely protecting the wellbeing and dignity of people incarcerated in California and beyond, and set an example for the world of a life filled with compassion, generosity, and meaning. We will miss her terribly and her spirit will be an integral part of our organization forever. An obituary written by Toby Rubin and published in The Jewish News of Northern California is included below:

The Bay Area Jewish community lost one of its brightest lights with the death of Jane Kahn on Dec. 26, 2018. She was 64. Jane was a model of tikkun olam in all aspects of her life, bringing her belief in the divine within all humans to her family life, her friendships, her work representing and advocating for the rights and dignity of incarcerated individuals, her volunteer leadership in Jewish and secular nonprofits and her philanthropy.

Jane was a fighter. She worked tirelessly on behalf of California’s prisoners, advocating for the civil rights of incarcerated persons with mental illness and other disabilities for decades. She believed that being incarcerated or without a home did not make a person less than human; she recognized the humanity of all around her. She fought against the indignity of homelessness with Religious Witness for Homeless and Hamilton House, against capital punishment with Death Penalty Focus, and for a brighter future for prisoners through Prison University Project.

Jane was also a lover. Her Jewish soul, bright smile, intelligence and tremendous compassion captured the hearts of people wherever she went. It was standing room only at Sinai Memorial Chapel in San Francisco on Dec. 28.

On her second day of college at Brandeis University, Jane met Michael Bien. From that day on, “Jane and Mike” or “Mike and Jane” seemed to be the only way to truly understand either of them. They both were raised in Jewish homes and raised their three sons, Ben, Max and Joey, in communities built through the JCCSF preschool, a family havurah, Brandeis Hillel Day School, Camp Tawonga, New Israel Fund, and Congregations Beth Sholom and Emanu-El. Jane was an active parent and volunteer at all institutions, including her leadership on the Camp Tawonga board.

Jane held Israel —its people and place — deep within her heart. Israel as a political entity became a painful challenge. In her remarks as co-recipient with Mike of the New Israel Fund Guardian of Democracy Award, Jane the lover and Jane the fighter came together. While others whispered to each other about the difficulty of talking about Israel with their young adult children, Jane shared the tensions within her own family. She believed that pushing out of our “tent” young adults who question and challenge the policies and practices of Israel regarding the Palestinian people is not the way to strengthen Israel or the Jewish people.

She always leapt to defend those she represented and those she loved.

Until the end, she took care of her enormous circle of loved ones. She faced her disease just as she embraced life. She showed us how to live each day as fully as possible, love fiercely, persevere whatever the obstacles. She dove into study, pursuing questions of living, dying, and the life of the soul. She wanted to be sure that not only she, but everyone she loved, would be ready for the moment that she’d be gone. She was remarkably brave and strong for over two years, right up until her last day. Jane prepared us for her death. Let us all be blessed by the lessons of her life.

Attribution: This obituary originally appeared in The Jewish News of Northern California on January 8, 2019.

Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.

Celebrating Student Expression at Open Mic Night

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On December 28, 2018, the Prison University Project hosted its fifth annual Open Mic night in the San Quentin chapel and invited students to share creative work that they developed in class or on their own, such as poetry, dance, short stories, and music. It was a wonderful evening that showcased our students’ diverse talents and interests. Photos of the event and a copy of the program are included below.

Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.

Ear Hustle at City Arts & Lectures to Benefit the Prison University Project

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Nigel Poor, former Prison University Project instructor, visual artist, and co-producer and co-host of Ear Hustle, will join Earlonne Woods, former Prison University Project student and co-producer and co-host of Ear Hustle, for a talk at the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco on March 29, 2019. Ear Hustle is one example of the impact Prison University Project students are having on conversations around criminal justice and incarceration.

From City Arts & Lectures:

“Ear Hustle presents stories of life inside prison, shared by those living it. The podcast is a partnership between ​Nigel Poor,​​ a Bay Area visual artist, and ​Earlonne Woods​​, formerly incarcerated at​ San Quentin State Prison​, and was co-founded with fellow inmate ​Antwan Williams. ​​The Ear Hustle team works in San Quentin’s media lab to produce stories that are sometimes difficult, often funny and always honest, offering a nuanced view of people living within the American prison system.

In addition to co-producing and co-hosting Ear Hustle, Poor is also a visual artist whose work explores the various ways people make a mark and leave behind evidence of their existence. Her work can be found in various museum collections including the SFMOMA, the M.H. deYoung Museum and the Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. She is also a professor of photography at California State University, Sacramento.

In November 2018, California Governor Jerry Brown commuted Woods’ sentence after 21 years of incarceration. Upon his release, Woods was hired by PRX as a full-time producer for Ear Hustle, and will continue to work with Poor, contributing stories about re-entry.

This event is a benefit for Prison University Project.”

Get your tickets here.

Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.

Reimagining Justice, Together

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The Prison University Project is excited to partner with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) in its efforts to address systemic issues around criminal justice reform in the United States. As the funding landscape shows increased interest in tackling mass incarceration, Aly Tamboura, former Prison University Project student, current board member, and Manager of Technology and Program Delivery at CZI, has served as an important liaison between funders, programs, and communities most impacted by the criminal justice system. Watch him, and others, discuss CZI’s important work below.

To learn more about CZI’s approach to philanthropy and system change, read David Plouffe’s piece on the Justice & Opportunity initiative.

Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.

Where the Movement Starts

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Published in the November 2018 newsletter, which you can read in its entirety here.

On October 5, the Prison University Project hosted an academic conference inside San Quentin, entitled Corrections, Rehabilitation, and Reform: 21st Century Solutions for 20th Century Problems. Panelists included college students at San Quentin and outside academics, and Patrick Elliot Alexander, author of From Slave Ship to Supermax: Mass Incarceration, Prisoner Abuse, and the New Neo-Slave Novel, delivered the keynote address.

This was only possible because all came off as planned. There could have been a lockdown or a quarantine, either of which would have kept students from attending or guests from coming into the prison. There might have been delays, so students missed half of the event. There could have been an alarm on the yard, leaving students stuck on the spot until it cleared. Student speakers and facilitators may have found themselves in risky situations, called upon to critique their captors or disagree with others in the face of potentially serious social or political repercussions. The list goes on and on, and even after several years working inside the prison, I know I don’t know the half of it. But all such contingencies are examples of the reason it is critical for incarcerated people to have a voice in academic conversations about prison: only they know in depth the realities of incarcerated life. Only they have some of the true keys for analyzing what reform should look like, or if “reform” is in fact the answer.

The goal of including incarcerated voices in academic conversations about incarceration was what led us to start planning this conference. Students and alumni inside the prison applied to be on the conference committee, and together a small group of us collaborated on a call for papers, which hubristically announced this as the first academic conference to be held inside a prison—this is not the case, as it turns out, but we were excited to start receiving dozens of submissions, both from our students inside and from outside scholars from across the U.S. In the end we received almost 100, so many that we realized, to some of the committee members’ dismay, that we would have to send out some rejections.

We were also eager to help our student participants prepare for this professional opportunity, in which they were on panels with academics far more experienced in writing and presenting: volunteers Chris Alfonso and Debbie Mayer stepped up to help student presenters with research and writing; Prison University Project Board member and volunteer instructor James Dyett assisted student speakers with public speaking skills and student panel moderators with facilitation strategies. Our students did magnificently.

These and other concerns filled our sometimes twice-weekly meetings. We disagreed, argued, and spent hours upon hours talking through complexities of panel configurations. I’m filled with admiration for the dedication, hard work, and brilliance of my co-planners—Chris Alfonso, Wayne Boatwright, Noble Butler, Clark Gerhartsreiter, James King, Timothy Thompson, Jesse Rothman, and Jesse Vasquez, many of whom had never attended a conference, but all of whom approached the planning with passion, seriousness, and a spirit of collaboration. The theme of the National Conference on Higher Education in Prison in Indianapolis this November is “Building a Movement,” but we demonstrated with our own sister conference that the movement truly starts inside.

Amy Jamgochian is Prison University Project’s Academic Program Director.

Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.

Allison Lopez Will Begin as Learning Specialist this Fall

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A few months ago we launched a search for a Learning Specialist to allow us to create and share best practices in trauma-informed instruction as well as methods for identifying and supporting students with learning disabilities.

Because such a high proportion of our incarcerated students are living with the long-term effects of trauma, student support services that incorporate trauma-informed practices are particularly critical for our work. Our goal is to understand the impact trauma has had on our students’ educational experiences, both in the way they view themselves as learners and their awareness of the resources available to them.

In a survey of incarcerated students enrolled in the College Program, nearly 90% were victims of violence or abuse while growing up, nearly 50% had experienced homelessness, and 36% had struggled with food insecurity. Of the surveyed students, 33% reported that they either had been diagnosed with a learning disability or suspected they had one. These experiences can cause long-term emotional and psychological barriers to learning. Currently our instructors are trained to identify students who are struggling and develop plans to help them finish course materials at their own pace. We created the Learning Specialist position as an extension of our work in an effort to train staff and faculty to maintain physically and emotionally safe learning environments in which student needs are met with a holistic, collaborative, and culturally competent approach. One that empowers and supports our students with learning disabilities and benefits our entire student body.

Allison Lopez brings years of experience to this role, previously serving as the College Preparatory English Program Coordinator. In this new position she will design, implement and manage expanded services for students with learning disabilities, psychological obstacles to learning, and challenges related to a history of trauma. Broadly, she will work to build organizational capacity to improve student support.

This new position is made possible by generous support from the Ascendium Education Group, and is tied to a larger initiative to share these new trauma-informed practices and approaches with practitioners of prison higher education around the country.

Celebrating 22 years of Higher Education in San Quentin at First Annual Gather & Give

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The Prison University Project hosted an evening celebration Saturday, September 22, at the Delancey Street Restaurant in San Francisco, to spread awareness of our work and raise funds to increase our impact. Joined by board members, staff, volunteers, and former students, attendees had the opportunity to learn more about the Prison University Project and hear about the program from over 20 former students and their families.

We also honored two very important people from our community—Nigel Poor, the co-producer and co-host of Ear Hustle and volunteer instructor with the Prison University Project, and Jane E. Kahn, a civil rights and civil liberties attorney and former board member. Our program also featured powerful spoken word performances by poets CeCe Jordan and Tongo Eisen-Martin.

It was a magical night in celebration of 22 years of higher education at San Quentin that couldn’t have happened without our wonderful sponsors: Michael Bien and Jane E. Kahn, Gay C. and Carl Grunfeld, Goldman Sachs, JK Irwin Foundation, Lewen-Cooper Family Foundation, David Raub, Kathy and Bob Richards, Heidi Richardson, Rise Up As One from the California Endowment, Rosen Bien Galvan & Grunfeld LLP, and Toby and Robert Rubin.

As well as our host committee: Eden Cooper, James Dyett, Bert Lewen and Roslyn Allison, Judy King, Connie Krosney, Melissa Nelken, Prison Law Office, Susannah Raub, Theresa Roeder, Maddy Russell-Shapiro, and Rebecca Sills.

We were proud to raise nearly $90,000 and welcome 300 guests to our inaugural benefit!

Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.

Jody Lewen Named Frederick Douglass 200 Awardee

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The Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives and American University’s Antiracist Research and Policy Center have partnered to honor 200 individuals whose modern-day work best embodies Douglass’s legacy of social change. Prison University Project Executive Director Jody Lewen was selected alongside Michelle Obama, Angela Davis, Noam Chomsky, Ava DuVernay, Naomi Klein, Bernie Sanders, and others as a Frederick Douglass 200 Awardee and will be honored at a gala in Washington D.C. in February.

Lewen was named amongst the Educators, “those committed to teaching away bigotry and interpreting ideas critical to human growth through books and film, lectures and laughter, in formal and informal classrooms.”

The list was published in the Guardian and excerpted below:

This year is Frederick Douglass’s Bicentennial celebration. After escaping slavery at the age of 20, Douglass went on to become one of America’s most celebrated abolitionists – tirelessly campaigning against slavery. Beyond his abolitionist work, Douglass was also a politician, writer, feminist, educator, entrepreneur and diplomat.

The Frederick Douglass 200 is a project to honor the impact of 200 living individuals who best embody the work and spirit of Douglass across those areas where he had such an impact – abolitionist, politician, writer, feminist, educator, entrepreneur and diplomat.

The FD200 has been curated and compiled by the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives and the Antiracist Research and Policy Center at American University in Washington DC, and the Guardian is pleased to partner with them to publish this list. Each week, between now and November, we will publish a list of 10 new people who have joined the FD200. All awardees will be honored at the Library of Congress in Washington DC on Douglass’s next birthday, February 14, 2019.

[…]

Jody Lewen began volunteering as an instructor for an associates degree program at the San Quentin state prison in California in 2002. Her work as an instructor led her to establish the Prison University Project, designed to improve access to higher education for incarcerated people at the facility. Her program has proved remarkably successful, dramatically reducing the recidivism rates of graduates. She continues to advocate for higher education opportunities for incarcerated people.

Attribution: This article originally appeared in The Guardian.
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Please note that the Prison University Project became Mount Tamalpais College in September 2020.